Posts Tagged ‘Bradley Cooper’

And we’re back once again with an all-new episode of The Flickcast. Five weeks in a row! It’s a Christmas miracle!

On this week’s episode Chris and Joe discuss a bunch of new and recurring topics. Some of these include Justin Lin taking over the Star Trek movie franchise, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Idris Elba as James Bond (maybe), their favorite Christmas movies and TV shows and a whole lot more.

Picks this week include Chris’ pick of the movie American Sniper starring Bradley Cooper and directed by Clint Eastwood and Joe’s pick of the movie Predestination starring Ethan Hawke, based on Robert A. Heinlein’s story All You Zombies.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship, or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the summer blockbuster I’ve been waiting for for longer than I can remember.

The usual adjectives of effusive praise are appropriate: funny, clever, touching, and, of course, fun. While Marvel Studios has certainly found the formula for successful films, they’ve been progressively more and more serious and, worse, self-important. Guardians has the good sense to mock itself and its concept, which is likely due in large part to its star, Parks & Recreation‘s Chris Pratt, and writer/director James Gunn (Slither), and perhaps almost as large a part being that it’s relatively free of the Marvel Universe around which every other film it’s made snugly revolves. I doubt we’d see even Tony Stark using a space-rat as a make-believe microphone, especially in the first two minutes.

So Gunn and Pratt bring a delightfully refreshing sense of self deprecation to their film, Pratt playing the somewhat well-known Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, intergalactic swashbuckler. The promotional writeups describe him as a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly, but I think Indiana Jones may be more appropriate, since they’re both adept at getting into and out of particularly sticky situations.

This time Star-Lord has snatched an orb of potentially unimaginable power, which puts him in the sights of nearly everyone across the galaxy, from assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to planetary ravager Ronan (Lee Pace) to Yondu (Michael Rooker), Star-Lord’s kind-of adopted father, to genetically modified raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and his Ent-ian-ish pal Groot (Vin Diesel). After a three-way battle on the universal capital planet, the four are imprisoned and…blah, blah, blah. They team up, everyone tries to kill them, and so on.

In 1977, at the age of 8, I sat in a theater and experienced the awe and wonder that was Star Wars. At the time, no one had any idea what kind of cultural significance it would have or what it would mean for cinema in general and science-fiction films in particular. Though there have been many books, essays and college theses that have attempted to quantify and examine those impacts over the years, at age 8 I didn’t really care about such things.

If I’m being completely honest I should admit that I still don’t, I just remember sitting in the darkened theater being completely pulled into a new and completely realized new universe of awe and wonder and being completely captivated and immeasurably entertained by it. Thanks to James Gunn and Guardians of the Galaxy, that feeling has returned 37 years later.

Even though we don’t really care all that much who or what wins an Academy Award, the rest of Hollywood does. It’s also likley many of you care as well.

So, in that spirit, here’s a list of the nominations that were announced this morning. There’s a lot of them and, to put it bluntly, not that many surprises. The movies and performances that seem “Oscar-worthy” were nominated. It was kinda a no-brainier year.

Of course, there’s also a few regulars who made the cut, like Meryl Streep, you would expect to see on the list. One notable exception is Tom Hanks, who seemed to be a shoe-in for a nomination for his role as Captain Phillips. He got nothing.

I guess every Oscar nominations list needs at least one surprise, just to try and keep it interesting and prove the Oscar voters don’t just vote for whomever or whatever wins a Golden Globe. Of course, Hanks didn’t win the Golden Globe either, but I’m sure it was just a pleasure to be nominated.

Anyway, here’s the nominations list (stolen from the folks at Deadline):

What can you say about The Hangover “franchise” that hasn’t already been said? Sure, it features an odd cast that for some reason clicks together very well, an absurd premise that for some reason works very well and many other elements that, on paper, should have probably made the first movie a flop — or at the very least relegated to DVD.

Well, as you know, that didn’t happen. In fact, the first one was a monster hit that spawned a sequel and made household names of its stars. And now, we’re in for the final chapter of the franchise: The Hangover Part 3.

The first full trailer has dropped today for the movie and it’s pretty much what you would expect. Although, that may have a lot to do with the fact that with this trailer, the marketing department is trying to give you more of the same to help you remember why you loved these movies in the first place. Expect some different trailers and such later on.

Meantime, check out this new one after the break. Look for The Hangover Part 3 to hit theaters on May 24th.

The opening, a long tracking shot that follows motor stuntman “Handsome” Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), as he makes his way through the carnival, lighting cigarettes, pushing through the crowd, enterting the appointed tent, fastening his helmet, and buzzing in the cage with two others, is one of the best — and will likely remain among the best of the year. It’s an inspired choice that testifies to director Derek Cianfrance’s deliberation.

Luke is one of the major characters in this play, a distinction that he’ll share with Avery (Bradley Cooper), the lawyer-turned cop and Jason (Dane DeHaan), Luke’s son. Each of them will have their own act, with the scenes intertwining as the drama unfolds throughout 15 years. Luke will quit his job to stay with his son. He will meet a local mechanic (Ben Mendelsohn) who will teach him to rob banks.

He will be pursued by Avery. Avery will rat out some crooked cops and eventually run for office. Luke’s son will befriend Avery’s without realizing their connection. And the results of that friendship and discovery of that connection will begin the cycle anew.

Cianfrance’s previous film Blue Valentine, also with Gosling, carried a similarly morose tone and followed another meticulously logical line of unfortunate events. For all the spontaneity of many scenes — the robberies and chases especially — and improvisational (sounding, at least) dialogue, he shows an immense amount of discipline. He knows the story he wishes to tell and does in a straight-forward and hard way.

Yes, that’s right. After a bit of time apart to “find themselves” and/or work on solo projects, Chris and Matt are back together again for an all-new season of The Flickcast.

And to kick things off, the boys talk all-things Oscar and make some predictions about who and what will take home the gold guy during Sunday’s festivities. Plus, they take a bit of a detour through the upcoming Star Wars movies and the various casting rumors as well as the most recent installment of the Die Hard franchise.

Hopefully you won’t be too disappointed but Chris and Matt don’t make any picks this time around, mostly because they don’t know if that bit is going to continue. So that means you don’t have to link to anything this week.

However, if you do want the picks bit to continue, let us know via the comments. And, if you have any other comments or suggestions about the show, feel free to let us know that too.

Look for brand new episodes of The Flickcast right here each and every week!

As we’re a site covering the movies, it would probably be a disservice not to put up something about the Oscar (aka Academy Award) nominations which were announced this morning by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone. So yes, the nominations are here and as always there’s a few surprises, a few “snubs” and the rest is rather predictable.

Here’s the nominations for your reading pleasure. Look for the actual ceremony, featuring host Seth MacFarlane, to air on Sunday, February 24th on ABC.

Even though it’s the holidays, some things end up getting released anyway. Often, those things are trailers, which is the case in this, ah, case.

In this upcoming thriller, A Place Beyond the Pines, Ryan Gosling plays a pro motorcycle rider-turned-bankrobber and Bradley Cooper plays the cop who’s determined to catch him. Want to know more?

Good, because we’ve got that trailer we mentioned. The film is directed by Derek Cianfrance who co-wrote with Ben Coccio and Darius Marder. It also stars some hot babes in the persona of Eva Mendes and Rose Byrne. It’s set to open March 29.

Who We Are

The Flickcast brings you the best geek experience. We find the best geek stuff out there and bring it to you. No filler, no BS, just the best stuff. We sift out the crap so you don't have too. Find out More.